It was warm out there

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that the summer of 2012 in the U.S. was the third warmest since records began in 1895. Temperatures averaged 74.4 degrees from June through August, which was 2.3 degrees warmer than average. The warmest U.S. summer on record was in 2011, and the second warmest was in 1936, NOAA said.

The January–May period of 2012 was the warmest such period on record for the contiguous U.S. The average temperature nationally was 5.2 degrees warmer than average, the largest temperature departure from average of any season since records began. As for the three spring months of 2012, March was the warmest on record, April the third warmest and May the second warmest.

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